The ship was built under the name Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II, but construction was put on hold after the war's end, and she never entered British service. India purchased the incomplete carrier from the United Kingdom in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. INS Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. After years of distinguished service, she was decommissioned in January 1997.

From 1997 to 2012, she was preserved as a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, until it was closed in 2012 due to safety concerns. At the end of January 2014, Vikrant was sold through an online auction to a Darukhana ship-breaker, where she underwent preparations to be broken up.[2] Although a public-interest litigation was filed and heard by the Supreme Court of India challenging Vikrant 's sale and scrapping, on 14 August 2014, the Supreme Court rejected the PIL and cleared the way for the warship to be scrapped. Vikrant remained beached off Darukhana in Mumbai Port while awaiting the final clearances of the Mumbai Port Trust.[3] On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court gave its final approval for the carrier to be scrapped. The scrapping of Vikrant began on 22 November, and is intended to be completed by mid-2015.[4]

Contents

Vikrant was ordered as Hercules by the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 12 November 1943 by Vickers-Armstrong on the River Tyne.[5] She was launched on 22 September 1945. However, with the end of World War II, her construction was suspended in May 1946 and she was laid up for possible future use.[6]

In January 1957 she was sold to India. She was towed to Belfast to complete her construction and for modifications by Harland and Wolff. A number of improvements to the original design were ordered by the Indian Navy, including an angled deck, steam catapults and a modified island.[7]

The Crest of INS Vikrant

Vikrant, as seen from HMS Centaur - March 1962

Hawker Sea Hawk of Vikrant during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war

An Alize anti-submarine aircraft takes off from Vikrant during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war

Vikrant was commissioned into the Indian Navy by then Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vijayalakshmi Pandit on 4 March 1961 in Belfast. The name Vikrant was taken from Sanskritvikrānta meaning "stepping beyond", i.e. "courageous" or "bold". Captain Pritam Singh was the first commanding officer of the carrier.[8]

In June 1970, Vikrant was at the Naval Dockyard for repairs due to a crack in a water drum of one of the boilers powering her steam catapult. Unable to procure a replacement drum from the United Kingdom due to an embargo, Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda ordered the routing of steam from her forward machinery to the steam catapult to bypass the damaged boiler. This repair enabled her to launch both the Sea Hawks as well as the Breguet Alizé, although she lost some cruising power. In March 1971, she was put through trials to test the fix.[10] These modifications turned out to be valuable, enabling Vikrant to enter combat against East Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 despite the cracked boiler.[7][11]

Stationed off the Andaman & Nicobar Islands along with frigates, INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas, Vikrant redeployed towards Chittagong at the outbreak of hostilities.[12] Based on naval intelligence reports that the Pakistan Navy intended to break through the Indian Naval blockade using camouflaged merchant ships, the Sea Hawks struck shipping in the Chittagong and Cox's Bazar harbours, sinking or incapacitating most ships there. On the morning of 4 December 1971, Vikrant '​s eight Sea Hawk aircraft launched an air raid on Cox's Bazar from 60 nautical miles (110 km) offshore. On the evening of 4 December, the air group struck Chittagong Harbour. Later strikes targeted Khulna and Port of Mongla. A Press Trust of India report of 4 December read, "Chittagong harbour ablaze as ships and aircraft of the Eastern Naval Fleet bombed and rocketed. Not a single vessel can be put to sea from Chittagong." Air strikes continued until 10 December 1971 with not a single Sea Hawk lost.

Vikrant preserved as a museum ship in Mumbai with historic aircraft visible on the flight deck.

Aircraft elevator of Vikrant

Vikrant was given an extensive refit, including new engines and modernization between 1979 and 3 January 1982. Between December 1982 and February 1983 she was refitted again to enable her to operate BAe Sea Harriers which replaced the Sea Hawk. After the retirement of the Breguet Alizé from carrier service in 1989, she received a 'ski jump' for more efficient use of her Sea Harriers.

Vikrant was India's only carrier for over twenty years, but by the early 1990s she was effectively out of service because of her poor condition. Even following major overhauls she was rarely put to sea. She was formally decommissioned on 31 January 1997.

Following her decommissioning, Vikrant was marked for preservation as a museum ship in Mumbai, although a lack of funding prevented progress on the ship's conversion for this role.[14][15] Similarly, speculation that the ship would be made into a training ship in 2006[16] came to nothing. From 2001, Vikrant was made open to the public by the Indian Navy for short periods, but as of April 2010, the Government of Maharashtra was unable to find an industrial partner to operate the museum on a permanent, long-term basis.[14] In 2012, the museum was closed after Vikrant was deemed unsafe.[2]

Vikrant was the only World War II-era British-built aircraft carrier to be preserved as a museum.[17]

In August 2013, Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha, chief of the Western Naval Command, said the Ministry of Defence would scrap Vikrant as she had become "very difficult to maintain," and as no private bidders had offered to fund the museum's operations.[18] On 3 December 2013 the Indian government decided to auction the ship, due to maintenance difficulties.[19] The Bombay High Court dismissed a public-interest litigation filed by Kiran Paigankar, founder of the "Save Vikrant Committee," stating the vessel's dilapidated condition did not warrant her preservation, nor were the necessary funds or government support available.[20][21]

At the end of January 2014, Vikrant was sold through an online auction to a Darukhana ship-breaker for Rs.60 crores (Indian Express-21-Nov-2014: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/dismantling-of-iconic-warship-ins-vikrant-begins/ ).[22][23] Although a public-interest litigation was filed and heard by the Supreme Court of India challenging Vikrant 's sale and scrapping, on 14 August 2014, the Supreme Court rejected the PIL and cleared the way for the warship to be scrapped.[24][25] Vikrant remained beached off Darukhana in Mumbai Port while awaiting the final clearances of the Mumbai Port Trust.[3] On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court gave its final approval for the carrier to be scrapped. The scrapping of Vikrant began on 22 November, and is intended to be completed by mid-2015.[26]